2247/Couch Counsel

Couch Counsel
Date of Scene:	22 December 2016
Location:	Earth Court Frat House
Synopsis:	After the Wraith attack on the ECFH in Regal Roses, Kyouko, Naru, Kunzite, and Mamoru sit on couches and talk about stuff.
Cast of Characters:	Kyouko Sakura, Kunzite, Naru Osaka, Mamoru Chiba

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Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    The whole incident had taken mere minutes. Kyouko had leapt off of the roof to go destroy the too-near Wraiths. It was a matter of course for her- hunting Wraiths was an everyday job, and there weren't even that many of them. Unfortunately, it was only after she had already engaged the Wraiths (of which it turned out there were about a half-dozen, a pretty regular number) that the bigger, more menacing Wraith had shown itself atop the ECFH.

    Kyouko had felt it, of course, had been able to sense it and see some of the fireworks, but she was busy fighting- she couldn't just turn her back on the current fight and run back, even if she wanted to very badly: it would have been much too dangerous.

    She had had no choice but to finish off the lesser Wraiths, a feat which took a relatively short period of time, but long enough that by the time she did return tot he rooftop, the rest of the group had already dealt with the larger threat.

    She lands in a ruffle of cape and skirt, glancing around, "Is everyone okay? I'm so sorry, I tried to get back here as quick as I could but I was already fighting when that thing showed itself.."

Kunzite has posed:
It's a certainty that Endymion's first priority was Naru -- then Nephrite who'd actually touched the thing, just in case -- then the other young-royalty pair. Which means that Kunzite is the one down on one knee by Naru now, gathering her up in one arm and wrapping her in his cape. "She'll be fine," he says to Kyouko, cutting off worry before it gets much of a chance to start. "She'll be fine. You did well; if those things had had the chance to gather and flank us, it would've gone badly."

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru looks, physically, fine. She didn't even fall when she passed out, thanks to Endymion being right there to catch her. She's just not actually conscious when Kyouko arrives to protest that she'll be fine.

Kunzite can feel when she's starting to wake, as she shifts from being deadweight in his arms to something a little more functional, even if the mumbled commentary is entirely enveloped by his cape.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    A quick glance around the rooftop is enough to reassure Kyouko that no major tragedies have occured, Mamoru and Nephrite and the guests all appearing to be in one piece. Her eyes land on Naru, though, with Kunzite crouching over her, and her eyes widen perceptibly. "Naru-chan! Is-" She barely gets this out before Kunzite is reassuring her, and she huffs out a short breath, visibly forcing muscles to relax.

    She walks over regardless, falling to her knees next to where Kunzite kneels and Naru lies in repose, her eyes tracking over the girl, as if seeking any injuries despite the reassurances, before turning back up to Kunzite. "What happened?"

    His praise of her is not addressed- she knows he speaks true, but that doesn't do much to waylay the feeling that she was absent again when Endymion needed her. Its irrational, and she knows it on some level, but Kyouko and rationality do not always dwell in the same space.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Slow." Naru replies, still muffled a bit, but she's dredging her brain back out of the emergency shut down procedure it elected for. "I'm slow." She amends as a few more braincells come online and remind her that there's more parts to a sentance than just that.

"Almost got it, but slow. And then black." Naru explains, which is really probably not actually terribly enlightening. "You okay?"

Kunzite has posed:
"Something different," Kazuo answers Kyouko. "Wraithlike, but shaped differently, and wielding fire and swords instead of that ..." He doesn't have a word for the wraiths' razor cries; he shakes his head, instead. "Maybe a little smarter, but I don't have much to go on, there. Naru managed to take out the core of the thing it targeted her with, but she still got caught by the fringe."

He doesn't pick Naru up bodily, since she's stirring. But he eases her up, gentle. "Slow," he says to her, "is practice. You didn't freeze."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko's eyes turn down to Naru again as the girl speaks, and she sighs and her face lights up with a smile at hearing the girl's voice, additional confirmation that serious injury was not sustained. "Well y'know what they say.. better late than never. At least you were here." She listens to Kunzite's summary, and grins a little. "Atta girl." The description of a new, more powerful type of Wraith troubles her though- seen in a shadow behind her eyes, though her grin doesn't slip.

    She blinks as Naru asks if she is okay, apparently caught somewhat off-guard. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Was just a couple Wraiths.. the normal sort, not.. whatever was up here." She pats a pocket. "Got some Cubes out of it. I'm good."

    After a moment she climbs back to her feet, still in henshin. "We should maybe get inside though. Fine or not, it's cold out here and layin' on the roof probably ain't the best way to recover."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Felt different too." Naru frowns a little, trying to pick through the shreds of remembering from just before it went black, which is naturally the bit that one's brain usually intensely rather dislikes revisiting. Something about reasons it went black in the first place. "It was an attack, rather than stealing emotions out. It was pushing emotions in." She hmmms softly and then adds. "Mostly Endy's attack taking it out, I just added colour."

Granted, when she says it, she means it literally.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "We can worry about the mechanics of what it was doing later," Kyouko insists, pacing back and forth in place on the rooftop. "For now, let's get inside." She repeats herself, with more force. Her eyes dart about the rooftop, as if expecting another attack at any moment- unlikely, but expecting unlikely things is part of what makes her effective.

Kunzite has posed:
Kunzite glances up -- meets Nephrite's eyes for a moment and glances to Endymion; whatever he sees from Nephrite, he nods to, and then applies a little more pressure to helping Naru up. Of the sort that's generally associated with 'if you can walk, great, if not, you can be carried.' "Warmer downstairs," he says aloud. But nothing else, not quite yet.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru may possibly have been stalling until she was pretty confident that getting up and walking was going to be under her own steam rather than getting carried. Those bits of brain apparently are slow to reboot, based on the little bit of a stumble as she gets her balance and then she nods. "I'm good."

It's only after a few steps towards the door to downstairs that Naru pauses and turns to look at Kyouko. "Grab the cake too." She advises before heading into where it's warmer.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko nods firmly in agreement with Kunzite's words, and hovers just a bit as Naru gets to her feet. She starts to follow them both downstairs when she is reminded about the cake. She pauses for a second, giving Naru a look which frankly is far too complicated to be easily read, before heaving a faint sigh, though its accompanied by a chuckle. "As if I could forget the cake."

    She goes to fetch it, and stops briefly on the way to talk to Endymion and Nephrite. Her concern for Naru aside, there's duty to consider, and even if its less ingrained in her than in Kunzite or Nephrite at this early stage of her career, she hasn't forgotten what her first priority should be.

    It's only a few moments later though that she appears in the living room, carrying the cake. She sheds her henshin, and is once again in pajama pant and t-shirt, barefoot- what she was wearing before initially going up to the roof.

Kunzite has posed:
There is still coffee. It's Kunzite who sees Naru down and settled in the living room. It's Kazuo who goes and pours the last of it for Naru. Those upstairs have coffee, they don't need this. He sees the mug into her hands before going about minor details like actually taking off his coat, and nodding to Kyouko as she arrives.

It is perhaps a very small signal that he has to make a second trip into the kitchen for plates and forks, because cake.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru might make it downstairs under her own steam, but she's grateful enough to curl up on the couch and hold hot coffee rather than continue the thinking of plates and forks and necessities to make cake go. Or, to be honest, carrying cake down the stairs. She too is back out of henshin in relatively short order, leggings and t-shirt taking over from skirt and jacket. She's got her legs tucked up, a little bundle of Naru curled into the corner of the couch sipping coffee as she processes.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    The cake is set down on the coffee table. Kyouko meets Kunzite's eyes for a moment as he passes her, returning his nod and seeming to understand the reason for his trip back kitchenward.

    She sits down next to Naru on the couch, leaning forward to uncover the cake before leaning back again, one leg folded under herself, the other foot brushing the carpet. "Mamoru mentioned what you did," She says quietly. "Pretty neat."

Kunzite has posed:
There's that moment of quiet there before Kazuo returns. Practical things in hand. Cake's cut if need be, doled out onto plates, set before each of the girls without demanding their hands. All quiet and in the background, underlying Kyouko's voice, not distracting from it.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru tips ever so slightly Kyouko-ward, to lean there rather than on the arm of the couch, still curled up and still holding her coffee. "That was unexpected. And was weird, and .. yeah, it was pretty cool." She admits quietly. "It never occured to me that I could add more colour to his stuff and boost it. I knew I could colour things, but I didn't think of it that way."

The cake had barely come out of the oven before it came over, so if anything, the fight gave it time to cool nicely before being sliced. Naru offers Kunzite a smile of thanks as cake appears on the table.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko glances sideways again at Naru as the other girl shifts to lean against her, but doesn't move away, though her own posture doesn't move much either. She watches Kunzite re-appear with utensils and such, and gives him a smile as well, though her words are for Naru.

    "Not so useless after all, huh? Seems to me like this is an avenue that bears investigatin'. Y'know.. not in the midst of a sudden attack, next time." She will accept cake when offered. Of course.

Kunzite has posed:
Cake is indeed offered. But offered by setting it down nearby, so that it is offered on Kyouko's timeline. It is, notably, within reach without de-leaning.

"Harder to do that kind of thing outside a fight," Kazuo says, quiet and almost noncommittal. "Emotional engagement is a part of it. But investigation doesn't require, necessarily, actually doing it at the time." He seats himself in a chair across the way, minus both cake and coffee for the time being.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru considers that and there's a rueful little smile both at Kyouko and Kunzite's words. She takes another sip of coffee, the caffeine doing wonders in re-engaging brain, as it so often does. "If I'm alone, I'm still fairly well sunk, but that's fine." Naru points out to Kyouko thoughtfully, giving her a little nudge. "That's normal enough that I'm used to it, but it's more agile than drawing if I dont have the footing to stop and draw, like in that quarry." She glances to Kunzite then. "Although it wouldnt have been helpful there either, but that's besides the point."

"Wraiths still suck." Naru feels obliged to add before another sip of coffee.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko nudges Naru back, lightly. "That can be said for a lotta people. But there's still value in bein' able to support the front-line fighters in that way." She glances over to Kazuo. "And yeah.. I mean, I get that. Sometimes you need the impetus of danger. But it's also valuable to try, I think.. because it can really make a big difference if you have some clue what you're gonna do before you do it."

    This might seem hypocritical coming from the Queen of Instinctive Response, but instincts, like skills, are honed. Which is not to invalidate Kunzite's point- only expand upon it.

    "And besides.. it just opens the door to even more possibilities."

    At Naru's final comment, Kyouko reaches forward and gets cake and a fork, before re-settling next to Naru. She takes a forkful of the cake.. then holds it out to Naru. "Wraiths suck. Cake is good. Let one cancel out the other."

    Then she looks at Kunzite. "Out of curiosity though.. it drop any giant Cubes or anything?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"It's more fun to practice outside of a fight," Mamoru's voice insists from the kitchen-- he must've come in through the next apartment over's roof stairs and then come through the other kitchen door, which is entirely unfair. But it also means that he has more coffee, since he left Nephrite the lid-ful and brought the thermos back with him. (He pours it in a cup, and he glares at Kunzite.)

Attention goes back to Naru, and Mamoru fishes for things on the counter as if he ever put anything in his coffee. "And you're not sunk if you're alone, seriously you just need to figure out what to do with all that energy. It's almost break. I am taking off from studying. So you, stop being so fussy and self-deprecating. And you!" Here he points to Kunzite, "stop being such an old man. Kyouko does he need sat on?"

Then he comes in, thermos set down, and investigates finally getting some cake. "Neph'll bring Fi down." A beat, and he doubletakes at Kyouko. "Does cake cancel Wraiths out?"

Kunzite has posed:
"Why wouldn't it?" Kazuo inquires, presumably to Mamoru's last question. "Low-grade exposure, at the least." High-grade exposure, not so much. But emotional drain ... there's a reason they call some things 'comfort food.' And a reason that 'sweet' has a dual meaning, taste and emotional reaction alike.

That, of course, is unnecessary analysis. The real answer is cake. And there is in fact a plate waiting right there with a piece of cake already on it, that Kunzite has notably not picked up. As if it might be intended for someone else, or something. Maybe even as a preemptive answer to a certain glare.

"It's something the two of us should experiment with, too," he says aside to Naru. "For incidents like the quarry. We can both combine efforts with Mamoru; if we can do it with each other, we may be able to be more useful in times like that one."

Then he looks back at Kyouko. "Not giant, no, but not nothing. If you have a decent supply, I'd like to propose we keep one or two set aside; you and Momo will always have first claim, but there's a Puella it might be useful to bribe in future."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko glances over her shoulder at the sound of Mamoru's voice, a brief smile again coming to her lips. "That's what I been tellin' her for the past few weeks," She asides smugly, before glancing back at Kunzite. "When does he ever not need sitting on?" She bats her eyelashes at Kunzite as she says it, brat-mode engaged.

    But quickly abandoned again, as she shrugs to Mamoru's question after Naru (hopefully) eats the cake. "Cake always helps. But nii-chan is right- Wraiths drain your good emotions, right? Well.. cake gives you good emotions back. Therefore, cake helps."

    She finally grabs some for herself as well, still sitting next to Naru on the couch. "We're doin' fine for Puella-Chow at the moment. I don' have an issue with that other than to point out we don't actually' know what might happen to a Cube kept long-term by a non-Puella." Seeds re-hatch, after all. Cubes- no data yet.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru eats cake as offered by Kyouko rather than replying right away. She listens to the sane and useful suggestions being offered and Kunzite's in particular gets a nod. "Combining when I know to expect it would be good."

Naru pilfers a bit more cake, willing to unhand her coffee to do so. "These ones didn't drain like the other ones. They imposed. Very different sensation." There is a psuse and Naru adds "But cake still helps. People help more."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I guess I failed Defense against the Dark Arts 101," Mamoru says contritely, picking up the cake that Kunzite cut for him, then actually literally going and sitting on him. Not with his full weight or blocking his view, more of a sit-lean on one of his legs. And he hands Kunzite his coffee to hold since it's harder to reach the coffee table from there. "And yeah, that thing was flinging ennui and despair and resignation around like it was a Witch. Which, actually, is less aggravating somehow...?" He puts an enormous forkful of cake in his mouth.

Kunzite has posed:
Due toll is taken from the coffee, but one sip isn't much of a punishment for presumption. If it actually counts as presumption. Kazuo absently puts an arm half around Mamoru's waist. "Clearly," he says gravely to Kyouko, "we should cycle them out the way we do other staples. Keep them in containers tagged by date."

She can't actually throw things at him as effectively with Mamoru in the way.

(That, or he was serious.)

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "I see.." Kyouko mutters, upon hearing (for a second time, but registering more this time) that this new Wraith seemed to impose emotions rather than steal them. "That's.. interesting. Sorry I missed it.. again." This last offered to Mamoru, even as he sits down half-on-top of Kunzite. That, at least, makes her smile a little.

    A smile which only lasts until Kunzite starts offering organizational suggestions. "Mamoru, will you bonk him for me?" She asks sweetly, before grinning once again.

    Her own cake is rapidly disappearing, though she keeps shooting glances sideways at Naru, as if not quite willing to trust that the girl is as fine as she says she is, for whatever reason.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Witches fling around ennui and despair and resignation?" Naru asks, quirking her head curiously and thoughtfully as she settles to drinking coffee, clearly awake enough for the Questions to start. "Hunh."

The smile for Kyouko as the puella glances at her is reassuring. She's awake, she has coffee and she's even asking questions. She's /fine/.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
With the arm around his waist, Mamoru settles slightly more solidly on his perch, all tolls taken from coffee ignored. He blinks at Kyouko. "What, for the teasingness? Because it's not a bad idea. When they start wiggling we know that they need to get used up, and if they're dated then we get an idea of when they will start wiggling before they actually do..." A pause. "And I don't want to bonk him, he's holding my coffee."

Then he shrugs a little at Naru. "Well they're made of despair, so they kind of want people to join the party. When someone gets witch-kissed, they're lured to a labyrinth-- their minds shut down and all they feel is the despair the witch is magnifying. They usually pick on people who are already down. Notably, this usually doesn't happen to anyone with magic-- but if someone's magic is drained enough, it can. A mark shows up on them and they get really determined to go to their doom..."

Kunzite has posed:
"How many others were with it?" Kazuo asks Kyouko; the tone suggests a request for data, or maybe a hope that it'll distract her from hitting him while he is playing coffee custodian. The conversation between Mamoru and Naru is one that he's primarily listening to, not following up on -- as if hearing it codified were an interesting new point.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko peers across at Mamoru. "He knows why." She glares at Kunzite past him, if affectionately.. then laughs, "I guess I can accept the coffee argument. Fine, I'll bonk him myself." She doesn't move. "Later."

    She settles back, just a tad bit more against Naru, though the lean is subtle, as she scrapes at the remains of the cake on her plate and glances up at Kunzite. "Six. Pretty normal-sized Wraith group. Didn't really give me any trouble, but too many to disengate and come back before they were dealt with."

    Similar to Kunzite, she tracks the concurrent conversation without adding to it- Mamoru hit all the bases.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Hunh." Naru listens to Mamoru's explination about witches thoughtfully, leaning over to retrieve her own piece of cake now that she can't steal any from Kyouko's plate anymore. "Interesting. I didn't realize that they shared it quite so much. I knew that they fed on it, but I suppose it's all part and parcel of the same thing. Hunh." She drinks more coffee, thoughtful again.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru surveys Naru and Kyouko's mutual leaning and Naru's cake shenanigans thoughtfully for a moment as he finishes his cake, then holds plate and fork in one hand and reaches to take his coffee back from Kunzite's other hand. "I don't know if they can impose it without depression already being there, but I know that they can magnify even disappointment layered onto stress into suicidal urges. They all also have different ways of doing it, and different ways of enforcing it. People have died in Labyrinths before, and gotten significant injuries. Depending on the way the Witch is doing it, the people trapped inside might just collapse and have their energy and feelings drained until there's nothing left, or they may actively be trying to jump into whatever trap's been left out for them-- and get a strength boost in fighting their way to death if anyone tries to stop them."

He's digging deep; his expression's a little abstracted as he talks, and he's talking slowly. "I know someone who awakened to her magic inside a Labyrinth once, broke out of the funk it had her in. Not a Puella. I don't think Kyubey was even there."

Kunzite has posed:
Kazuo nods to Kyouko, matter-of-fact again, and his attention lingers for a moment -- there's something else there, but it's something he'll follow up on shortly. Because there's also something in the speed in which Mamoru's speaking. He transfers the coffee back to Mamoru's hand without protest or delay. It's after Mamoru's rearranged for his new priorities that Kazuo leans his head against Mamoru's. Not much contact, but a little.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Turnabout is fair play, so now that Naru has cake on her plate, Kyouko proceeds to pilfer some, at least having the courtesy to use her own fork. Chewing, she eyes Mamoru as he starts theorizing on Witches, the way they do their work, and the possible ramifications of said methods.

    That really ain't her ballpark, and anyone who knows her knows that. She knows all about Witches- but her extensive knowledge is practical, and if she's ever bothered to think in depth about the actual mechanisms of a Witch's influence, well.. no, she hasn't, let's not kid ourselves.

    Her eyes shift to Kunzite, and she smiles slightly. Aww, they're so cute, she is plainly thinking, oblivious.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Finding some degree of stress or depression is pretty common in modern society." Naru comments thoughtfully as she listens to Mamoru and takes a bite of cake. Carrot cake, for the record, with pear as well. Fairly plain, but nice enough. And cake. Naru pokes at Kyouko's fork rightfully pilfering a bite, but she doesn't make too much effort at protest.

"I'm not surprised that they are all a little different. Different people after all, and different tactics and all of that. I can presume that every labyrinth is very distinctive to the Witch as well."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The contact relaxes Mamoru a little, gives him -- unsurprisingly -- more focus. And information as well-- the look of faintly wary curiosity at Naru's phrasing smoothes out, and Mamoru rests his plate-and-fork-holding arm over the arm around his waist. He's not sure if Kunzite knows how he knows some of these specifics, but the knot of bereavement and unresolved anxiety in the back of the prince's mind, sinking talons into his heart at the remembrance of part of it, may give some clue.

The black-haired boy smiles faintly as he sips his coffee. "Either way, as bad as Wraiths are, they're a relief to me. I find it sits easier, fighting an incarnate conceptualization of predatory negativity. Even if that one was my first and it sure as hell felt like a personal insult. My roof! Which brings me to another curiosity--"

Kunzite can feel his mood lighten considerably as indignation takes the place of grief in priority, and the past gets compartmentalized once again. "--what the hell was a Pretty Cure magical item doing in Fiore's flowerpot? And was that thing after it? And why was it trying to take away our reasons for fighting? Us, of all people?"

Kunzite has posed:
Kunzite did not know how Mamoru knew some of those specifics. But he knew that pacing of his voice, and that gave him reason to suspect. Details aren't asked over. Just the contact, the presence to help the cake and coffee and conversation overcome some of the emotional echoes ... the bereavement is not something to be touched on now. Not right now.

Not any more than he's addressing Naru's statement about labyrinths. That, too, he can look to later, if Kyouko doesn't beat him to it.

"That last has one potential easy answer," Kazuo says aloud, instead. "Previously, the wraiths we've seen responded only to food and to direct attacks. This one responded to the appearance of threat, as well. That's a suggestion it's smarter. Which in turn suggests that it was trying to take away our reasons for fighting so that, when the pack it was expecting arrived, we would be vulnerable to them. Given our reactions -- if Kyouko hadn't drawn the pack's attention, odds are good they could have taken three of us out of the fight immediately."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko's mouth is full of stolen cake, which she has to chew and swallow before she can properly add to the conversation, although once this is accomplished, she chimes in, "Wraiths are easier. And I dun just mean that in a 'to beat in combat' way, although they are that, too.." She pauses, and then adds, "Or at least, the normal ones are. I guess now we gotta take into account the existence of bigger, badder Wraiths.. but anyway. They don't carry as much.. baggage. And yeah Naru, every Labyrinth is different."

    She tilts her head slightly, a faintly wry smile on her face. "I ain't one to shed tears easily anyway, and ya'll know that, but even I find it easier to destroy what Kyubey described as basically an automated system of the universe than a monster that used to be.. y'know. A person. Definitely easier. "

    As for the Pretty Cute item being in Fiore's flowerpot.. well, she scowls, but it's good-natured. "Never trust a rosebush." Then she laughs. "I dunno.. the Wraith may have just been attracted to the concentration of magic, more than after the specific item."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Hunh." Naru is mostly absorbing new information all over the place here, and attempting to fit it into the information she already has. "I can completely see how Wraiths are more straightforward. From everything I can tell, there's very little that's straightforward about Witches.. and easier." She turns to glance to Kyouko at her mention of it being easier to take down Wraiths.

Naru gives a little shiver at the reminder that now there are /more/ Wraiths in the world to fuel her nightmares. "I suppose there was a pretty high accumulation of magic and magical people in that spot. Between the item /and/ all the people." She pauses a moment. "Maybe Fiore has taken up collecting?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Yeah, note to self-- it was a good idea to go with the armor henshin, but I really need to work on the why," Mamoru says in response to Kunzite's estimation of the situation. He finishes his coffee, then considers the empty coffee cup and empty plate and fork in mildly self-amused irritation for a second -- not because he wants more, but because he doesn't want to get up to put them down -- and then makes a face at Kyouko. "Don't let Fiore hear you say that, Kyou-chan, he'll get fussy and throw dirt on the floor and sulk for a week."

Finally he decides to get up just long enough to bend and put the dishes down on the coffee table, then sit back down on Kunzite and sprawl back against him. "I can tell you one thing for sure, that Wraith was fugly. What the hell, non-euclidean hell monk."

He gestures lazily with one hand at Naru, not lifting his head and therefore looking at her with half-lidded eyes. "Back to your power stuff, though. Do you have a henshin name you're using? And also, you... you have a stone, don't you? It feels like you have a stone."

Kunzite has posed:
"Whatever it was," Kazuo says to Naru, shifting just slightly himself to accommodate Mamoru's sprawl more comfortably, "she was able to use it to summon a rose that was larger than she was. But for all I know, it might be her and Fiore's sudden secret daughter."

A number of people undoubtedly hope not.

He doesn't tell on Naru's stone; that one's up to her.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko leans forward herself to deposit her empty fork and plate on the table, then settles back as she listens to the others' speak. She feels Naru shiver at the thought of more intense Wraiths in the world, knowing the girl's (well-deserved) antipathy towards them, and subtly increases her lean quotient just a bit, a non-verbal reassurance.

    She grins toothily at Mamoru as he warns her about keeping her mouth shut around Fiore. "Ahhhh, that plant and I have an understanding. It'll be fine."

    "Naru's stone is very pretty." Kyouko says, faux-haughtily, and then ppffftts at Kunzite's words. "Holy shit, was that a joke? You need to sit on him more often, Mamoru."

Naru Osaka has posed:
There is a high proportion of comfortable sprawl going on and Naru relaxes against Kyouko as the topic of Wraiths and witches is momentarily put aside, although now Naru is ever so vaguely shy.

"I have a stone." Naru nods, confirming Kyouko's words. She reaches to tug at a necklace that has settled under her t-shirt, drawing out the fairly simple but elegant opal in a silver setting. "I think we've already established today that naming things is not one of my strong suits, so no. No henshin name, but I really should come up with one."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru claps a hand over his mouth at what Kunzite says, eyes widening, and then he's trying to stifle the laughter. After a second he gets it under control, and his eyes are sparkling at Kyouko. "Well she did get her hands all up in his dirt..."

And then his eyes are sparkling even more, and he drops his hands over Kunzite's arm around him; he's starting to get a 'shipper on deck' look and that's a dangerous place to go -- and then Naru takes out her stone, all shy, and the sparkling softens. "... Hyalite," he suggests, but it's not a Naming, not like Kyouko's, because he's not making an agreement with her. "It's a glassier form of opal than the one you've got there, but-- its clarity is something I think fits you."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko tilts her head just slightly so she can observe the opaline stone that Naru produces. She's seen it before, of course, but she wasn't lying when she said it was pretty.

    Mamoru suggests a name, and she quirks her lips, thinking about it, though it's not her place to decide, of course. "Mamoru is good at naming things." She finally says, with a faint grin. Though she may be biased.

Naru Osaka has posed:
There's a resettling on the couch as Naru moves from one curled up position to a different one that apparently has more opportunity for blood flow to her toes, based on how she's wriggling feeling back into them.

"Hyalite?" Naru repeats, the uptick in her voice making it a question. "I didn't consider stone names." She admits. "It seemed presumuptuous, but it's a good name." She glances to Kyouko at her comment and there's a twist of a smile. "I should make him name my art. Except then I'd have to /show/ him my art."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "It's really not that scary." Kyouko assures Naru, while side-eyeing Mamoru something fierce.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The corner of Mamoru's mouth curls up at Kyouko's compliment on his mad naming skillz, and then things are getting kind of more serious, and he feels like he should be sitting up-- until Kyouko starts with the side-eye and deflates that really quick. He scoffs. "Excuse me, who hired Naru to paint art literally on the walls here? I know how good she is," he says with an eyeroll. "And I could suggest names if you wanted, but sometimes I'm pretty hit or miss."

Except no, he really does need to be upright to explain some things to Naru here, so he squeezes Kunzite's hands, then carefully disengages from the sprawl in order to actually get up. Part of the attempted increase in dignity is mitigated deliberately by his picking up empty plates to bring them to the kitchen. "You don't have to have a stone name if you don't want one. But-- in the Golden Kingdom, they used to be given to those with magical ability for various combinations of merit, valor, or achievement. They were earned. And you've earned one, if you want it."

Kunzite has posed:
That little grin of Kyouko's is seen and noticed, echoed by a small smile of Kunzite's own. He doesn't speak aloud to his agreement there. He probably doesn't need to, despite Mamoru's protest.

He does answer that squeeze of his hands by leaning his head against Mamoru's a second time -- a moment of light pressure, nothing else, and then he's drawing his own hands and arms out of Mamoru's way, absently coordinated between the two of them. "I could get those," he notes to Mamoru. Nothing else but that. Mild threat to remove his kitchen escape left as mild.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "She's very good, and I'm pretty sure you just did suggest one." Kyouko points out to Mamoru, somewhat testily, as he moves to get up, but there's no real heat behind it- just good-natured verbal sparring of the sibling variety. Even if Naru and the mural aren't on speaking terms.

    She shifts away from Naru a bit as she tries to restore feeling to her feet, giving her the space to do so, half-turning with one arm over the back of the couch to watch Mamoru's progress towards the Kitchen with the plates. She listens to his words, even if they aren't for her, considering them in silence before turning back to look across at Kunzite.. quirking a brow in what might be amused censure.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Mural art is not the same as closet art." Naru points out. "One is /for/ public consumption, and one is not generally. Except when fairies are being obnoxious. Although I'm getting pretty used to having it out, but it's not exactly /pleasant/ to look at." She's blushing, she really is, faint but its there.

There's a thoughtful quirk of her head as Mamoru sits up and explains more of the details behind the names and she considers. "I do like it." She comments quietly. "Hyalite then." She has more thoughts, that thoughtful expression isn't gone yet, but those she's keeping to herself for the moment.

Kunzite has posed:
Kazuo shifts again, nodding toward Naru with another restrained, barely-there smile. He starts to push himself up from his chair, and might be about to try to retrieve those plates from Mamoru --

-- and his phone chimes insistently from attention.

He gives an annoyed glance down at it and retreats to the hall, voice low. "Where?" can be overheard once, but that's about it.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"You could," Mamoru says over his shoulder to Kunzite as he passes through into the kitchen and then puts the dishes in the sink. "You can do the washing them later part if you're that set on it." It appears it's not so much an escape as an elision of the inherent awkwardness involved in getting up off of someone's lap in order to avoid sprawling for serioustalk, since he comes right back in. In the act of coming back in, he also gently whaps Kyouko upside the head. "I meant naming her art."

And then, continuing his passage back toward Kunzite, he ruffles Naru's hair like a jerk. "You show what you want to show. I'm not forcing you to--"

And then there goes Kunzite, and Mamoru squints after him, paused to see what that's about. He says, sidelong to Naru, "Anyway I'm also sort of claiming you as one of us with it, so it's only fair you know that part too."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "Ow!" Kyouko is whapped, but she deserves it, so she subsides with merely some grumbling that even Naru can't make out beyond 'royal ass', but it sounds very affectionate, probably more for show than anything.

    Naru gets ruffled, and Kyouko releases a rare giggle, her smile genuine as Mamoru gives his warning. "That's pretty cool." is her only comment. She knows enough to know that it isn't her place to try and convince, or unconvince, Naru of anything here.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I swear, I'm going to grow it long again just so I can tie it back and discourage the hair mussing." Naru mutters, although there's no real heat in it. Her hair was short in the summer, but unlike Kyouko, she's clearly letting it grow long again, at that awkward inbetween stage where it's only barely long enough for a ponytail.

Naru's attention also follows Kunzite a moment before turning back to Mamoru and there's a rueful little smile. "I was already thinking I was probably going to be spending a lot of time explaning that an 'ite' stone name did not mean I was suddenly a shitennou." She pauses a moment and then notes. "I'm alright with being claimed, I think. I mean.. the whole pack of you keep an eye on me."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru grins at Kyouko's grumbling, then-- with a fraction of his attention still on Kunzite in the hall-- steals Kunzite's chair (and warm spot). He laughs at Naru. "Plus you already have keys to the castle-- you didn't turn that down, and you're a vital part of the ecology here-- I mean the community-- anyway, so it's really just more followthrough. And it's not like I'm asserting authority over you, or even like there's anything sovereign about any of this anyway? I mean, this is modern Japan, and I'm just a high school student with no legal family. It's just that symbolism is also as much a part of our magic as emotion and willpower are."

And this is the Earth Court Frat House, and as informal and welcoming as everything is here, there is definitely a court. That's unspoken; that's never spoken of except in jest. Sometimes it's uncomfortable in some ways. Other times, and to some people, it's the most comfortable and comforting thing in the world.

"I think what's important is that you're already part of Usako's family-- and you're already part of this one-- and I want you to know that, too."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I already cook in your kitchen." Naru agrees. "And nap on your couch and .." She pauses and then gestures a touch to Kyouko, even if her attention is still upon Mamoru. "It's not authority, per se, but I'd be lost trying to learn my magic without all of you. I can't imagine trying to figure this out on my own. Especially when I'm level one to all the rest of your level fifties. Over and above that, you guys are great family." Naru smiles, bright and warm and fond. "I'd be lost without you, magic or not."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko is just grinning and looking all sorts of pleased at the exchange between Naru and Mamoru, not feeling the need to add anything to it, although she looks at Naru with something like a question when the girl trails off and gestures to her.

    Then, recovering her grin, she adds, "Orphans make their own families. And even if you're not an orphan, Mamoru is, so it still works."

    In general she just seems really happy, even if the entire affair is only tangential to her.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"...Kyouko's the only level fifty here. You want more level fifties, you talk to the Sailor Team," Mamoru says, smiling lopsidedly. The lopsidedness goes away, replaced by something infinitely more affectionate and pleased and not at all self-deprecating, especially when Kyouko adds-- quoting him, even-- and he ducks his head, suddenly unable to look at them. His ears may be a little red. Maybe. "Yes anyway good, hey, I'm gonna go bring Neph some cake."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "Oh please, don't you make me out to be the badass around here," Kyouko shoots back, though she looks even more pleased, if this is possible, "I mean sure, badass, not gonna deny it, but none of us are slouches. You're just trying to make me blush to divert!" Well, it worked a little.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"You big kids can all fight it out for how many levels of awesome you are. I'll be over here in the newbie gardens." Naru quips with a laugh and a grin as she watches /both/ of them blush. "Take Neph some cake." She agrees as Mamoru decides how he's going to flee and then she turns to Kyouko and that grin is laid upon her utterly. "Ooh. He really /did/ make you blush." Because the best way to make someone blush more, is to tell them they're blushing.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Mission successful- That grin and well-timed comment from Naru manages to turn Kyouko just about the color of her hair, which is needless to say, about as rare an occurance as Kunzite making a joke. She's only glad that Mamoru is hopefully on his way out of the room at this point, and misses it.

    She turns her face away, as if in dignified dismissal, although the truth is still blindingly obvious. After a minute, she gets up off of the couch. "I'm goin' back downstairs." She glances around, then back at Naru. "You comin'?"